TW Playtesters - Doubles Racquet Advice Please...

After a recent surgery* I was told that I should probably only play doubles in the future. Stunning news to a guy who has always preferred singles, tried to stay as far away from doubles as possible, and who used to beat opponents by running everything down and waiting for my opponent to make a mistake.

In the past I've typically chosen lower powered and somewhat heavier racquets knowing that I was going to spend a majority of my time on the baseline and use control to beat my opponents. Now that I will be strictly a doubles player my needs have changed.

So I would be very appreciative for any help you can give.

I'm looking for a racquet that is a standout in doubles, is 97 to 103 square inches, 27 inches long, weight between 10.8 and 11.5 ounces, no more than 23mm wide, offers a good amount of spin, and useful power.

What racquet(s) have you found that have these specs and really excell in doubles?

When I return to the game I'll hopefully be a 4.0 who uses a great deal of spin off both sides, strength is backhand, weakness is first serve, and will strictly play doubles.

Thank you for your time.

TripleB

*I had microfracture surgery yesterday to repair torn/missing cartilage that turned out to be more extensive than the doctor first thought. Going into it he said I should be able to run again in 4.5 months and be playing singles in 6.5 months. After removing 5 pieces of cartilage during surgery he told me that I would probably not be able to run long distances again and that I should give up singles tennis and only play doubles.

After a recent surgery* I was told that I should probably only play doubles in the future. Stunning news to a guy who has always preferred singles, tried to stay as far away from doubles as possible, and who used to beat opponents by running everything down and waiting for my opponent to make a mistake.

In the past I've typically chosen lower powered and somewhat heavier racquets knowing that I was going to spend a majority of my time on the baseline and use control to beat my opponents. Now that I will be strictly a doubles player my needs have changed.

So I would be very appreciative for any help you can give.

I'm looking for a racquet that is a standout in doubles, is 97 to 103 square inches, 27 inches long, weight between 10.8 and 11.5 ounces, no more than 23mm wide, offers a good amount of spin, and useful power.

What racquet(s) have you found that have these specs and really excell in doubles?

When I return to the game I'll hopefully be a 4.0 who uses a great deal of spin off both sides, strength is backhand, weakness is first serve, and will strictly play doubles.

Thank you for your time.

TripleB

*I had microfracture surgery yesterday to repair torn/missing cartilage that turned out to be more extensive than the doctor first thought. Going into it he said I should be able to run again in 4.5 months and be playing singles in 6.5 months. After removing 5 pieces of cartilage during surgery he told me that I would probably not be able to run long distances again and that I should give up singles tennis and only play doubles.

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I'll give you a couple good choices, and then the best way to decide would be to demo them and see which one feels the best to you...

My favorite volleying racquet of all time, the Prince TT Warrior MP, falls into the realm of racquets that you like. It's an oldie but it's definitely still a goodie. Feels amazing on volleys, and is a super solid racquet that's great for generating spin with great control. It would be great for doubles because of how good it feels around the net. It's a classic!

The new Wilson Blade 98 would also fit your description. The 16x19 version will offer more pop and spin potential, whereas the 18x20 with have more control with a more "dead" feel. They have great feel, and are solid racquets with great plowthrough.

The Babolat AeroPro Drive would be a good choice too. It's the ultimate racquet (in my opinion) for the modern game. It provides tons of power and spin, with lots of forgiveness to take big cuts at the ball without having to worry about overhitting. I was skeptical at first to try it because I typically like a more "traditional" racquet, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Those would be a few I would have you try. If you can, get the racquets in your hand and see which one feels the best for you!

The Babolat AeroPro Drive would be a good choice too. It provides tons of power and spin, with lots of forgiveness to take big cuts at the ball without having to worry about overhitting.

Andy, TW

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Funny you should mention the TT Warrior. I used it for some time until my elbow started hurting so much I had to stop using it. I probably should have mentioned "easy on the elbow" in my original description.

How elbow friendly is the new version of the Blade? I demoed the last version twice, loved the racquet, but my elbow hurt after every session.

I used the BLX Pro Open some this past year and am looking to go back to a thinner racquet...23mm or under.

Have you tried any of the following that have the specs I'm looking for? If so, what are your thoughts?

So I have been these boards for quite some time and was going to save you money and suggest you pull out your old TTW, did not realize you had elbow problems with this rkt.
I also play around with a lot of different rkts and was looking into my old collection and pulled out the bumble bee version of the C 10 and had a competetive match last night with it, served well, returned well, volleyed well, this one a bit heavy comes in at 12.6 ounces so whipping up low balls that required alot of wrist action suffered, probably my fault not the best technique or footwork here. So the new C10 with SW in 226 should be great. For what its worth Chris gave an excellent review of such and I believe he gives an honest critique. With your knee surgery I presume the recomendation for dubs over singles was because of decreased mobility, so if so, you want a rkt with good sweet spot and decent power as your footwork will not always be excellent and a SW in 220 to 225 range. I use TWU to assess sweet spot, SW and the section on shot distance, this spot debunks lots of here say on these boards and can give you a scientific starting point to demo some rkts

Given that your body seems to be degrading like mine , I suggest the Pro Kennex Ki5 and Q5 (try both, I've not tried the lighter one).
The 2013 AeroPro Drive sounds softer than the old one, but I still don't trust the Babolats for anyone who has had physical issues.

I'm personally a big fan of the Pro Kennex Q5 295 and currently have it strung up with X-One Biphase. I like the feel of the racquet. It's comfortable on my arm, but not mushy in any way. Though I'm primarily a baseline player, I find it to be comfortable and maneuverable at net and with pretty good stability. I wrote up a short blog a while back on why I'm liking it so much:

Some of the things you said that really 'hit home' were:
- Power like the Pure Drive; I've used the PD Cortex in the past and thought the power level was perfect, just a bit tough on my arm
- Bigger Punch on your Forehand side; my forehand is my weaker side and I struggle to create enough power on that side as well...especially compared to my 2 handed backhand
- Arm friendly feel; due to my cartilage problems and surgery this past Monday I've not played in over 7 weeks but my right elbow still has some pain so I'm looking for something easy on my arm
- 'Crisp but not jarring or mushy'; hate mushy racquets but it seems tough finding something easy on the arm but doesn't have a mushy feel

Again, I greatly appreciate your input and look forward to reading more about this racquet.

Serves aren't my strong point, and I think my serves are about equal with the two racquets. I can probably get just a little more pop out of the Donnay 100, but the power difference isn't really noticeable enough for me to worry about. I can easily switch between the two racquets without much of an adjustment period at all. As a side note, I string both with multis and currently have Biphase at 57 lbs in the Q5.

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about the upcoming Yonex VCore Xi racquets. I'm a former RDS 003 player and loved the VCore 100, too.

One last question for TIffani and any other TW testers who have hit with Prokennex (new 295g). Is the arm friendliness on the very high end..... ???? Any testers with arm issues or tendinitis hit with it and what are their thoughts?